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Salvo abuse claims dealt with privately

Genevieve Gannon

The Salvation Army did not go to police with almost 500 child sex abuse complaints against its officers, paying out $15 million as it dealt with claims privately, an inquiry has been told.

The Salvation Army denies there was a culture of abuse or that it was endemic in its children's homes but has apologised for the pain and suffering victims endured.

A senior army officer says nothing has been proven against approximately 50 officers named in abuse claims, because the organisation takes a "non-adversarial" approach to such complaints.

This is to spare victims further distress, Salvation Army legal secretary Captain Malcolm Roberts told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry.

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Since 1997 the Salvation Army has received 474 abuse claims, 470 of which arose from its children's homes, over a period of 30 to 40 years.

Citing anecdotal evidence from a small handful of the 35,000 wards who passed through Salvation Army homes, Capt Roberts said instances of abuse were the result of individuals and not a culture within the organisation.

He would not accept the suggestion abuse was endemic across the organisation.

"From the evidence we have seen at the other end, dealing with claims, I don't see that endemic is the correct word," Capt Roberts said.

But he said the Christian charitable group was ashamed of what the victims in its care had endured.

"This should not have happened and this was a breach of the trust placed in us," Capt Roberts told the child abuse inquiry on Thursday.

"We are deeply sorry."

Thirty-seven of the officers named in the claims are dead, three or four have been jailed and two are still active officers.

Capt Roberts said the two serving officers were very young at the time of the incidents in which they'd been named.

"They were very young officers 25-30 years ago in homes and they are still working, but there's been nothing that's been proven against them," he said.

"Our process doesn't require a victim to prove anything."

Capt Roberts said the Salvation Army had never conducted an internal investigation into the sexual abuse complaints involving the children's homes it ran up until the 1980s.

Nor had it reported any of the allegations to police.

He said that was because the claims were made by wards who were now adults, who had the responsibility to go to police.

Capt Roberts said the Salvation Army did everything to encourage victims to go to the police.